With all due to respect to Peyton Manning and Adrian Peterson, Griffin showed Sunday why his value to the Redskins is greater than any other playoff-bound NFL star’s worth to his respective team.

And it didn’t even take his best effort of the season. Not even close.

Griffin came back from a gruesome-looking knee injury two weeks ago, which forced him to the sideline for one game, and threw two touchdowns in leading the Redskins to their sixth straight win.

He invaded Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday with the Redskins needing to win to stay in control of their playoff fate and exited with a 27-20 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

“I think this team and all of D.C. really believe that Griffin is the MVP of this season,” Redskins tight end Chris Cooley said. “He has had a great year with some of the other first-year quarterbacks out there and definitely gets my vote.”

The Redskins (9-6) have already won their most games since going 9-7 in 2007, the last year they made the postseason. With a home win against Dallas (8-7) in the season finale next Sunday, they can clinch their first NFC East title since 1999 and first double-digit win season since 2005.

"We're playing the best ball that we have all year at the right time," Griffin said. "We're rolling, and we all know that. We know that we can win any kind of game and we have to, whether it's a high-scoring game or a low-scoring game or a gut-wrencher at the end. So it feels good to be in this position. We've controlled our own destiny since we were 3-6, and we continue to control our destiny until next week."

Once upon a time this season, the Eagles and Redskins were each 3-6 and quickly becoming afterthoughts in the playoff race. Now, the ’Skins are one win away from proving a lot preseason skeptics wrong.

“Well, this was our plan,” said linebacker Ryan Kerrigan, who had two sacks Sunday. “We knew that if we took care of business we would put ourselves into a good position not only to make the playoffs but also to win the (NFC) East, and now it all comes down to next week and we wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Washington won a total of just 15 games in the three seasons before Griffin arrived. If that’s not the strongest case for RG3 as MVP, what is?

The No. 2 overall pick passed for just 198 yards and ran only twice for four yards—his lowest rushing total of the year—but if quarterbacks are judged on wins alone, the fact that he’s already won eight of his first 14 starts tells you all you need to know about this rookie’s significance to one of the league’s most storied franchises.

"Robert, obviously being the quarterback, he leads them," coach Mike Shanahan said. "I think one of the biggest honors that Robert has had is being elected captain at midpoint in the season. It doesn't happen very often (for a rookie), so it kind of gives you an idea of what people think of him and how he handles himself on a day-to-day basis."

The Redskins probably put the ball in the hands of rookie halfback Alfred Morris more than usual, balancing the run-pass ratio of their offense to accommodate Griffin’s return from a knee injury that, at the time, appeared it could be season ending.

Griffin wore a brace around his right knee and kept the scrambling to a minimum but made two picturesque touchdown tosses—including a 22-yarder to Santana Moss in the back corner of end zone in the third quarter—that showed the damage he can do even when the game plan isn’t designed around his signature designed runs.

“After we saw him the first drive, we said, ‘No, he’s really not trying to run today. All we have to do is stop the run and get after him,’ ” Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham said. “It didn’t happen that way and he gashed us a lot, especially on the pass.”

Another case for Griffin’s MVP candidacy is made by Washington’s shaky defense, which continuously puts the offense in a position where it must score points. The Redskins entered Sunday’s game ranked in the bottom five in overall defense, passing defense and total sacks.

Against Philadelphia, the ’Skins took a 27-13 lead into the fourth quarter, only to watch rookie quarterback Nick Foles lead one touchdown drive and then nearly lead another before the Eagles ran out of time at the Washington 5.

On the second-to-last play, Foles’ slant throw to tight end Evan Moore was dropped at the goal line or else the game would have been tied and headed into overtime. Two plays before that, Foles underthrew a wide-open Jeremy Maclin in the end zone.

Although the Redskins churned out five sacks and held the overmatched Eagles to 5 of 15 third-down conversions, it’s clear that Washington’s best hope to making the postseason and advancing beyond the first round rest on Griffin’s arms and legs more than their personnel on defense.

“I thought he played really well when everyone was saying he would have to stay in the pocket to win this game,” fullback Darrel Young said. “He just had some fun and the game plan was great, and he did what was asked of him to execute. The guy is something special.”